Vasari small mp 1v1 : Space Egg vs Kortul

Space Egg is definitely better.

It'd probably be a close call, but I think the Space Egg may prevail. Although the Kortul really was made for fighting, it had a better reinforced armored hull than the Space Egg. But with the Space Egg's abilities and overall power, I think it could take it out.

Plus the fact it gets a fighter/bomber squadron and later can get upgraded to two squadrons, whereas the Kortul can only make 1 squadron.

So yeah, my prediction is that the Space Egg will prevail, but taken heavy damage.

Space Egg:  2800 Hull (1.5 repair rate), 1150 shields (3 regen rate), 3.5 armor; 13 wave damage, 18.7 phase missile damage, 5 wave damage

Kortul:  2650 Hull (1.5 repair rate), 1425 shields (3 regen rate), 5 armor; 12 wave damage, 29.5 pulse beam damage, 7.25 phase missile damage

Nano-Disassembler is essentially +30 DPS to the Space Egg and -2 armor to the Kortul, plus the Space Egg can field a squad of bombers.  Assuming the Kortul takes Power Surge, that's essentially +25% DPS and +75% shield regen rate, so overall:

Space Egg:  13 wave damage, 18.7 phase missile damage, 5 wave damage, 30 nano-disassembler damage, 12.825 bomber damage; 79.525 total.

Kortul:  15 wave damage, 36.875 pulse beam damage, 7.25 phase missile damage; 59.125 total.

When you also consider that the Space Egg's Nano-Disassembler bypasses shields, it's definitely going to win that battle.  Plus the fact that it has Colonize, whereas the Kortul really has no useful support abilities, it's obvious that the Space Egg is better.

I wonder... when it gives the damage values on the ships... does it take the rate of fire into account?  I find that, in all cases, the Kortul does a lot more damage because it launches more missiles and shoots much faster. I'm thinking the numbers given are not DPS.  Has anyone checked?

But, I think the original poster was actually asking which to build... not who would win.  In that case, I'd build the Kortul without question.  Here is my reasoning:

You expect combat quickly.  This means you will need to take out enemy capital ships.  The Kortul is much better at this, and has much better survivability... so long as it is upgraded.  Therefore, it is to your advantage to start with the Kortul so you can level it as soon as possible.

It says Damage Per Second, not Damage Per Shot, so I would assume that rate of fire is taken into account.

No, the Kortul is not better at killing enemy capships.  The Space Egg wins at that due to Nano-Disassembler.  The fact that the Space Egg kills the Kortul in a one-on-one duel demonstrates this.  The Kortul might surpass it once it gets Power Surge to level 3 or something (even then I doubt it since Nano-Disassembler bypasses shields), but on a small map it'll probably be at lower levels for most if not all of the game.

They compliment eachother.

A Kortul will beat a Space Egg at higher levels, since its damage is augmented by Power Surge and Volatile Nanites. UJC, you forgot to include the +25% rate of fire increase and bomber damage in your calculations to the Kortul's DPS. Note that +25% attack speed increase does NOT equal 25% more damage, its actually slightly more.

At low levels a Space Egg will win, of course.

A level 1 Kortul cannot field strikecraft.  I did not forget to include Power Surge; the DPS was adjusted accordingly.

Exactly how is it "slightly more?"

Since it's a small map and the post says to expect early fighting, this will most likely be the case.

I vote Space Egg.  Nano bomb pwns all, and when your enemy is hurting, you grav bomb him and BOOM, no more enemy cap.  And did I mention Planet Suction?  I love that Space Egg.

 Sorry for the immature sentence, but I had to.

Anyway, I have played Vasari in over 600 online games, and I have never choosen the Kortul as my first cap.  If I decide to spam caps, I MIGHT build it.  I just don't find it useful though.  All of the other Vasari caps are so much better than the Kortul.

Note, however, that in v1.1 strikecraft will play a more important roll; so the Kortul might actually be useful in v1.1.  Until then, RIP Kortul.

1) Forgot aboutthe Strike Craft thing.

2) Assuming you deal 100 damage every two seconds, you will deal 50 DPS. a 25% increase in attack speed means you deal 100 damage every 2*0.75= 1.5 seconds.

100/2= 50 DPS - Normal

100/1.5= 66.666... DPS - +25% Attack Speed

(100/2)1.25= 62.5 DPS - +25% More damage

I would say the Kortul is useful. It can take more of a beating than any other Vasari cap ship, maybe more than any other cap ship period besides the Kol. When upgraded and at max level I've seen my Pulse Beams be rated to 190 damage with Power Surge on. Even not counting the Wave Cannons and Phase Missiles, that kind of DPS is nothing to be taken lightly.

Cap ships are support ships in this game.  I would rather buy 5 HCs and get the same damage output than buy a cap ship if that is all you are going to use it for.  In my mind, the Egg is a better support ship than the Kortul.

I'd say both are useful. The Egg's Disassembler is arguably the best anti-capital ship weapon and the Kortul's Volatile Nanites can make quick work of enemy fleets.

I think a battle between the two would be almost a toss-up.  While the Space Egg would have more fire power, the Kortul would have more shields (1275 vs 1425) and better shield regen (3 vs 3x1.75 = 5.25 at times).  But the Space Egg does have the strikecraft, and the nano disassembler damage bypassing sheilds is significant.  It would be interesting to hear how they would match up in a 2 player LAN game.

Since 1 armor equates to a 5% boost in hull, they both would have equivalent hull:
 3.5x5%=1.175x2800 = 3290 Space Egg
    5x5%=1.25  x2650 = 3312 Kortul

WJC, excellent quantative analysis again!  I would like to make a couple points.  The Space Egg's 5 wave damage is from rear guns, so I would remove that.  And I think Cataclysm's point means that: the Kortul's DPS is actually increased 33%.  Giving 74.5 DPS vs 62.5 (rather than 79.525 vs 59.125).

I also wonder how a Vulkoras Desolator with Phase Missile Swarm enabled would fare? Especially if you've also researched tier 1 phase missle bypass ("Phase Miniaturization"). 

I've heard tell that the Phase Missile Swarm doesnt actually shoot phase missiles. Its just a name for a generic "deal x damage to y random targets in range"

Your math is off, though.

Space Egg:
3.5*0.05= 0.175
1.175*2650= 3113.75 hull

Kortul
5*0.05= 0.25
1.25*2800= 3500 hull

The point I was making was that a 25% increase in rate of fire is equal to a 33% increase in DPS. Therefore:
Space Egg:  13 wave damage, 18.7 phase missile damage, 5 wave damage, 30 nano-disassembler damage, 12.825 bomber damage; 79.525 total.

Kortul:  15 wave damage, 36.875 pulse beam damage, 7.25 phase missile damage; 59.125 total, 1.33*59.125= 78.63625 damage with Power Surge. Close, but Nano-Disassembler bypasses shields so it will still lose.

I would argue that the Kortul does serve a supporting role in the fleet, its job is to draw fire. A person seeing a ship capable of over 250 DPS at higher levels will certainly seek to destroy it first. Just like the Radiance Battleship and Kol Battleship, the Kortul is supposed to tank the damage while the rest of the fleet works on shooting up the enemy.
While the Radiance has Manevolance (Or whatever that "ATTACK MEEEEEE!!" ability is called), the Kortul has a much more insidious technique: Its called "I deal massive damage. Shoot me or not, I dont care".

All this is kind of pointless though. Each and every capital ship serves a purpose in the fleet, and to get the most out of one ship you often need another! Early in the game you want supporting capital ships to keep your not-so-easily replacible fleet alive, as the game wears on you opt for Kortuls and Vulkoras's to deal more damage once your fleet is well-protected.

Both ships are two of the best in the game.  I think some of the posters took this too literally in assuming the ships would be fighting each other.  The real question from the original poster was which best complements a small map.

I think it comes down to playstyle, but I find it hard to beat the strategic options of a Space Egg.  The one caveat is that the Egg is much easier to kill and requires more micro and attention.  The point will arrive much sooner where you are forced to keep it out of the big fights for fear of losing it.  The Kortul becomes a beast as it levels -- it lacks strategic options, but can take a beating.  With the combination of Power Surge and the anti matter draining ability, late game it excels at killing enemy capitals.  Volatile nanites are also pretty nasty to clustered fleets.

Of course, the Space Egg excels at killing entire planets.  Nothing like ninja draining and colonizing an enemy planet.

In very tiny systems with almost immediate battles, you will probably have to take the nano-dissassembler skill first, or buy the Space Egg a level.  It is very weak without it.  Make sure you micro the use of the dissassembler, you can not afford to have the ship mis-use its antimatter, it can't take the beating of the Kortul. 

The Kortul requires very little management.  You just fly it into the middle of a small cluster of enemy frigates.

Cykur, Thanks for your comments.  Your insights (and experience) are invaluable. I learned quite a bit from your post.  Especially the comments regarding late game cap ship characteristics.

Cataclysm, It wouldn't surprise me if my math was off, but actually its not!  You've got the hull ratings for the 2 ships swapped - partly my fault.  The Egg starts with the highest hull, 2800, and both end with an effective hull of about 3300 - if I understand Armor correctly.  Also, phase missiles aren't a energy weapon, so they don't benefit from the Power Surge ability.  But you're right, its pointless.  I'm sure there's other things we are missing.  Like: possibly removing side weapon's fire too.

That's why I'd like to see how they fare in an actual, early matchup.  But like Cykur observed, those results would be much different later in the game.

Regards, Obi 1

Edit: PS, I hooked up a 2 player LAN, and tested it!  The Egg kicks the Kortul's butt [both level 1].